Help with Lupin's boggart / Cockroaches

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 97455

I (Carol) wrote: 
I personally think that both scenes are red herrings to steer 
readers (and Harry) away from correctly interpreting Lupin's boggart
as the moon. I really don't see why Lupin would lie to Hermione about
his boggart being the moon when he's in the process of confessing that
he's a werewolf. <snip> Anyway, I don't see a prophecy orb connection,
but for what it's worth, crystal balls are definitely mentioned in
connection with Lupin.
 
 
Potioncat:
No, I didn't see a prophecy orb connection either when I was only 
thinking of the boggart scenes in PoA.  But when I re-read OoP, I 
began to have doubts.  <snip> IIRC, in OoP his boggart is still
referred to as an orb, not as a moon and that is one of the little
details that is nagging at me. <snip>
 
To answer your question, If (big if, I know) there was a prophecy 
made about Lupin that would cause him to fear it, then he might not 
want Hermione to know about it.  So it's easier to throw her a red 
herring and call it a moon, since she can now associate it with being 
a werewolf, than to explain why he fears a prophecy orb.
 
I know, other than the prophecy about Harry we haven't heard of any.  
But we know the DoM is full of them and we know there have been seers 
in the WW.  So it isn't too far fetched to think they may be fairly 
common.


Carol again:
Given the number of rows devoted to "orbed" Prophecies in the DoM, I'd
say you're right that they're pretty common. Nevertheless, I doubt
that someone as obscure as Lupin, whose sole claim to fame (or
notoriety) is that he's a werewolf, would be the subject of a Prophecy. 

OTOH, he could well have cause to fear his own future--no prospects
for employment, premature aging, and involvement with the Order in a
war against an evil wizard--I'd say Lupin's chances of reaching the
age of forty are slim. So while I do think his boggart is the moon, I
think the descriptions of it as an "orb" and the mistaken
interpretation of it as a crystal ball may be red herrings that are
also clues--by which I mean that they mislead us about his boggart so
we won't guess too soon that he's a werewolf, but they're significant
in another way as clues about Lupin and his fate. 

If Lupin isn't afraid of his future, why would he give Trelawney such
a wide berth when she offered to read it in a crystal ball? Surely she
already knew, with the rest of the faculty, that he was a werewolf, so
that can't be what he's afraid she'll see. And McGonagall's "Imagine
that," which implies that Lupin, like McGonagall herself, thinks
Trelawney is a fraud, doesn't explain it, either. He could have smiled
and declined politely instead of running away.

Anyway, for what it's worth, here's the passage I had in mind. It
occurs at the little Christmas luncheon with HRH and the professors in
PoA. Professor McGonagall implies that Trelawney should have known
from her "crystal gazing" that "dear Professor Lupin" was ill. (Quoted
phrases are Trelawney's.) Trelawney replies:

"If you must know, Minerva, I have seen that poor Professor Lupin will
not be with us for very long. He seems aware, himself, that his time
is short. He positively fled when I offered to crystal gaze for him--"
(PoA am. ed. 229)

Despite McGonagall's skepticism, this prediction, like the one about
someone leaving the class around Easter, is at least partially
accurate since Lupin is no longer a teacher five months later. But
maybe there's more to it. Why *did* Lupin "positively flee" unless he
was afraid of his own future?

Carol